1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to sleeping caps and in particular to a sleeping cap that lifts the face of a person away from the surface of a pillow to prevent the forming of facial wrinkles.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known that some people struggle to sleep on their backs and not on their sides because sleeping on the side creates wrinkles on the face. It is desirable to have a product which will lift a side of the face of a person away from the surface of the pillow while the person is sleeping on the side.
Back in the early 1960s, it is believed that the Shakers slept on their backs, and perhaps they were experimenting with this theory. On the worldwide web, there are pillows that claim to aid in anti-wrinkling. Therefore, many people seem to agree that there is a relationship between sleeping positions and wrinkles on the face. If you lie on your side and then look at your face in the mirror, you may agree with this theory.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,044,521 issued Jun. 16, 1936 to H. M. Weiland at al. discloses a combination chin strap and hair cap device. The hair cap helps the hair or wave set of a person in place and the elastic chin strap supports drooping and sagging muscles or tissues and will further effectively reduce double chins and eliminate tell-tale lines on a face. The device comprises a hair cap of open work fabrics including a crown portion and side pieces, and the chin strap is connected to the lower ends of the side pieces; however, the device does not lift the side of a person's face away from a pillow or bed sheet to prevent creating wrinkles on the face. There is only a netlike or open work fabric between the face and the pillow surface and it appears that the tightness of the net and the jaw strap pushes the cheek towards the nose and will cause the face to have wrinkles.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,007 issued Dec. 7, 1954 to F. R. Larkin et al. discloses a sleeping halo or cap secured to a head of a wearer comprising a resilient halo-shaped bun or annulus adapted to be secured substantially at the base of the skull cap of the wearer to prevent rolling of the head during sleep. The annulus is held in place preferably by means of suitable chin strings. However, this device provides no support of the neck to enable the wearer to sleep in comfort and uses narrow ties which are tied under the wearer's chin and are a source of discomfort by becoming too tight or choking the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,428,763 B2 issued Sep. 30, 2008 to Anthony Hightower discloses a multipurpose pillow used for beauty or health purposes. When used in combination with a support surface, the pillow eliminates any contact between the support surface or the pillow and the delicate sensitive surface of the facial skin. The pillow comprises a unitary member having a first end section and a second end section adjustably interconnected by an adjustment means, for example, interconnected across the forehead of a user. However, the pillow is bulky and the adjustment means or band alone across the forehead will not maintain the pillow around the head. The band may cause disturbance on the skin and cause wrinkles to appear on the forehead and around the upper eyes. The pillow needs another fastening on the lower front part of the product to cover the ears in order to lift the face from the bed to prevent wrinkling. Also, the pillow is not secure against sleeping body movement.
Dermatologists assert that our facial expression causes the formation of wrinkles on a person's face. If a mere expression affects the face, surely when the heavy weight of the head is on the side of the face which is pressed against a pillow, it causes wrinkles to form and remain there when a person reaches a certain age. The wrinkles formed by the expression such as two vertical lines between the eyebrows also deepen when we sleep on our side.
Yet, it seems that people are not quite satisfied with the wrinkle resisting pillows available in the marketplace today. Therefore, the present invention is believed to solve this problem.